


Save Me From This Darkness

by Story_ii_Character



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Identity Reveal, its extra angsty guys be warned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-05-07 23:01:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14681256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Story_ii_Character/pseuds/Story_ii_Character
Summary: Post 3x18“I hope one day you can forgive me."No matter what happens, she needs Lena to know.





	Save Me From This Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> I highly, HIGHLY recommend playing "Make This Go On Forever" by Snow Patrol while reading this.

Reign escapes (because of course she does).

But there’s hope- hope in the form of ancient Kryptonian texts. Texts which offer a way to save Sam and end the Worldkiller entities for good.

Supergirl says it’s magic- old, deep magic- the only thing powerful enough to stop Reign. (Science- magic- Lena doesn’t care what they call it so long as it provides a way to save Sam.)

Lure Reign in, keep her there long enough to complete the ritual, banish her from Sam’s body and mind for good.

  


What could go wrong?

  


“We’ve got incoming!” Supergirl’s voice rings clear over the comms.

Reign crashes into view and Winn’s drone shakes at the impact, their view in the command center tilting wildly before correcting.

The scene dissolves into chaos as J’onn, Alex and Mon-el battle Reign, buying Supergirl precious time. Lena and Winn have armed them with an array of new Kryptonite weapons and it’s just enough of an edge to make it a fair fight.

Supergirl’s voice rises over the sounds of battle, ancient words spoken in a foreign tongue.

It starts at her hands- hands that hold a stone dagger etched with Kryptonian runes- a warm glow that grows with each utterance, bathing her in golden light.

Lena can see the strain- the combined effects of the ritual and the nearby kryptonite causing sweat to glisten along Supergirl’s temples. The light expands further and wind kicks up, particles dancing and swirling around her form.

  


Lena has never seen her more fierce, more alien (more beautiful).

 

Supergirl drops to her knees, but still her voice rings true.

 

Reign senses the impending tide and makes a last desperate effort, breaking free of the others, one hand closing over Supergirl’s throat just as the last word slips between her lips, the other snatching the dagger from her hands.

 

Supergirl can’t speak- can’t draw a breath- 

But they anticipated this. Counted on it.

 

Her hands close around Reign’s.

It was never about the dagger.

 

The moment their skin touches, Reign arcs back, emitting a monstrous roar.

 A tri-colored stream shoots from her mouth, twisting and coalescing into the air above. She drops to her knees beside Supergirl, head bowed, shoulders curled. Spent. The shimmering Worldkiller essence begins to swirl, pulled out of the air and down, down and into the dagger until there’s nothing left.

 

The dagger glows, illuminating their faces as Supergirl takes it gently from Sam’s hand- _Sam_ . Lena leans forward, hands clenched around the chair in front of her, heart thundering because _yes_ , that is, without a doubt, the face of Sam Arias.

 

Sam, who, as Lena watches, goes from bewildered to relieved to alarmed as Supergirl breaks the connection between them, staggering back a step.

 

Supergirl smiles as a line of tears breaks down her cheek. She turns to look at each of them, eyes landing last on the camera recording it all and it’s as if they’ve locked eyes, as if Supergirl can see her, right there.

 

Lena has just a moment to register that something isn’t right.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

Supergirl's eyes close.

 

Alex shouts.

 

A force of light explodes across the scene, knocking out the feed-

 

but not before Lena sees Kara drive the dagger deep into her own chest.

 

 

///

  


 

The sun lingers beneath the horizon, the sky yawning wide in pastel strokes of amber and rose, preparing to welcome the day.

 

As the light creeps across the floor of Lena’s office, she presses the spacebar with trembling fingers.

 

The still image of Kara animates on her screen, Kara’s hand blocking the camera for a moment as she adjusts the prop of her phone. She sits back in what looks like a DEO chair, the bland grey wall behind her throwing the bright red and blue of her suit in sharp contrast.

 

“I uh-” Something within her seems to settle, the hero persona sliding, shifting, until it’s not Supergirl, not Kara Danvers, but some combination of the two looking at Lena from the screen.

 

She takes a deep breath.

 

“You asked me for my real name.” She reaches to one side and when her hand comes back into view she’s holding glasses- a pair that Lena would know anywhere, the subtle tortoise shell pattern and wayfarer style as familiar to her as the person who wears them. Kara sets them aside.

 

“My name is Kara Zor-el, and I owe you an apology.” Kara looks directly into the camera. “I am so sorry, Lena.”

“I messed up. I was-” she swallows. “I _am-_ scared, and I listened to my fear instead of my heart. I lost faith- in you, in myself… in hope.”

 

Kara shakes her head and looks away for a moment.

 

“I know I missed my shot. I betrayed your trust. But I-” Kara’s fingers tangle together in front of her, knuckles paling at the pressure. “I care about you too much to not try. To fight for you. Even now.

“So I need you to know. I’m sorry- I’m sorry for how I reacted to you trying to save Sam. I’m sorry for how I reacted to you having kryptonite. I’m sorry for not trusting you, for what I asked of James. For what I assumed. For how I hurt you.”

 

Kara swallows, the muscles of her neck shifting. She breaks her gaze, dropping her eyes to the hands clenched atop the table. Pulling her hands back into her lap, she breathes in deeply and looks up.

 

“I’m sorry it took me so long to tell you who I am. I think you know- have known for some time, and you still… you still let me be Kara. It was-  I want to tell you everything, why I- “

 

Kara’s head snaps up as a muffled voice sounds off-screen. She nods at whoever it is, then waits, jaw muscles bunched beneath her skin, until the click of a door latch sounds.

 

She looks back into the camera. “I hurt you, I know that. If we- I would spend the rest of my life making it up to you, if we had more time. I would work every day to prove that I-” she breaks off again as someone pounds on the door. She shakes her head again and mutters a barely audible _fuck_  under her breath. “There just isn’t time.”

 

Her gaze returns to the camera, steady, earnest, laced with pleading regret. The words come faster now.

 

“If this doesn’t work, I need you to use the kryptonite- do whatever it takes to stop me. Don’t let me hurt anyone else. End it, once and for all.” Kara looks pained and Lena feels the sympathetic echo in her heart. “I know what I’m asking of you. You’re the only one I trust to do it. Please.”

 

Kara’s gaze steadies and Lena feels the weight of it as if she were in the room.

 

“Tell Alex there was no other way.”

 

Her eyes shine.

 

“I’m so sorry. I hope one day you can forgive me."

 

"I love you."

 

The video stops, stilling with Kara’s face framed off-center, a splash of light glinting off something on Kara’s cheek.

  


Lena feels a crushing weight descend upon her chest. She pushes back from her desk, stumbling to the railing of the balcony to brace her hands against it. Her breaths heave and she drops her head between her arms, jaw clenched, grasping for control.

 

“Lena?”

  

A warm hand settles gently on her shoulder and she gasps, snapping upright, certain she’ll turn and see-

Sam stands beside her, forehead creased in concern, hands dropping to clasp in front of her tasteful black dress.

She starts to say something, stops, and settles on, “I thought you might need a ride.”

 

“Of-” Lena has to clear her throat. “Of course. That would be-” Sam’s eyes hold too much. Too many of the things Lena has been battling to keep at bay. She breaks eye contact, moves for the door. “Let me grab my bag.”

 

Sam comes to a stop beside Lena’s desk when she catches sight of the screen. Her hands press tightly against her sides, fingers curling into the fabric.

 

Lena draws up next to her. She sets a steadying hand on Sam’s back and leans forward to shut the laptop, the click echoing with finality through the room.

 

“Let’s go.”

  


///

 

 

Lena leaves the window down as they drive toward the coast.

 

The first glint of sunlight breaches the horizon, gilding the buildings in gold.

 

The city is quieter than normal, a solemn hush having settled in the cracks and spaces as the people mourn the loss of their hero.

  


 

There had been one last lie. One last truth withheld to protect.

The ritual to save Sam, to bind Reign and the other Worldkillers to the blade, to banish them for good- Kara had left out the final piece of the translation.

It was not enough to simply trap the Worldkillers- they could not be contained, would need to be bound to a new host. A host who could then complete the banishing only one way.

 

A sacrifice. Kryptonian blood, given freely.

 

A life for a life.

  


 

Sam pulls over at the top of the rocky hilltop and they pick their way down to the shore, joining the others.

 

The city mourns the Last Daughter of Krypton.

 

But here, as a chill wind pushes waves against the rocky shore, a small group gathers to bid farewell to Kara Zor-el by the light of the rising sun.

  
Alex looks like her teeth might crack, so tightly is her jaw clenched. Tears flow freely, steadily down her cheeks.

  
They have few words, and Lena is thankful.

 

She cannot think of any utterance that could encompass the depths of her grief, the gaping despair of their loss.

 

Instead, the waves beat and break upon dark stone, their roar the very cry that is lodged in Lena’s own throat.

 

_And I don't know where to look_

_My words just break and melt_

_Please just save me from this darkness_

 

She steps up to the smooth metal of the casket, the gleaming vessel that will send Kara to join her ancestors in Rao’s light.

“I can forgive everything else.”

Her voice cracks, falters.

”But I will never forgive you for leaving me like this.”

And then, there, for the first time in a decade,

in the breaking light of the dawn,

in the shadow of what might have been,

as the salty wind howls in mournful agreement...

Lena cries.

_Please just save me from this darkness._

 

 


End file.
